Posted in Pakistan, USA on January 30, 2008 | 13 Comments »
Abdussattar Edhi helps the destitute, children, women, victims of natural disasters - and even the dead, by providing burials. In a country where need is high and government infrastructure for such work is desperately lacking, Edhi helps those whom no one helps. He takes nothing as a salary and lives very simply. He is an [...]
Posted in Islam, USA, gender, religion on January 24, 2008 | 9 Comments »
At the new Religion Dispatches blog, read my post “How not to rescue Muslim women.”
Posted in USA, political on January 23, 2008 | 6 Comments »
A study by a nonprofit reveals - surprise! - false statements made by the Bush administration prior to the invasion of Iraq.
Unfortunately, politicians lying is nothing new to any of us, though the scale of this is horrifying.
What is more shocking is the collusion of supposedly independent journalists - responsible for bringing us facts and [...]
Posted in USA, religion, spiritual on January 22, 2008 | 4 Comments »
This is a post from the old Koonj blog:
When we bought my Forester (here in Athens, GA), it had a bumper sticker that said: “ATHEISM IS ARROGANCE.”
I mean, you all know I’m not a fan of atheism. But I just wouldn’t want to be the one to say ATHEISM IS ARROGANCE IN ALL CASES.
I might [...]
Posted in Pakistan, USA, desi, fun, gender, religion on January 21, 2008 | 9 Comments »
I have a paternal uncle who arrived in the deep South 50-some years ago. He was the only foreigner the area. His face was splashed all over the newspapers as “Mo” the tennis star from Pakistan, who had a tennis scholarship at Clemson. Wherever he went, he was recognized: “You’re Mo, aren’t you!”
So 50 years [...]
Posted in children, spiritual on January 17, 2008 | 5 Comments »
As I chatted with the woman working on her laptop in the café, we ended up sharing notes about our respective toddlers’ childcare. She told me the Big Daycare (the one I had failed to get Raihana into) had become a Big Warehouse, and I told her the Little Guy across the street was a [...]
Posted in political on January 16, 2008 | No Comments »
A sad state the world is in when a radio heckler can cause war between nations.
Posted in Uncategorized on January 16, 2008 | 11 Comments »
Since 9/11/01 heightened security concerns at airports have made it all but impossible to lock your baggage. You are told that you might lock it, but TSA will break the lock if they need to subject it to additional inspection. I generally don’t bother, and I usually put fairly blind trust in security personnel.
No more. [...]
Posted in Uncategorized on January 12, 2008 | 2 Comments »
Speaking of local businesses, when I hurried into Charmar Flowers this morning, I only went there to mail a job application in a hurry. The Charmar Flower & Gift Shop post office is a very convenient stop for my postal needs, and a much more pleasant experience than the large, rather sterile post office a [...]
Posted in Islam, USA, gender on January 10, 2008 | 4 Comments »
Baraka has a promising new literary project in the pipeline that I’m excited to offer a plug for here. If you are American, Muslim and a woman, consider writing about your courtship and marriage for this anthology.
Enough has been said *about* Muslim women. Let them speak of their own lives themselves.
Hurry! The deadline is January [...]
